On the Caveman Diet – Drastic Reduction in Insulin Requirment

My first day on the Paleo diet started like every other day – with a cup of coffee. For the past 15 years my mornings have started with a cappuccino that I make myself, but today I left out the milk and replaced it with hot water (known internationally as Cafe Americano).

I ran 6.5 miles and came home to eat breakfast – a lettuce and cucumber salad topped with a can of tuna (I had lemon and olive oil on top – no salt). Not my usual breakfast, but good. I didn’t really eat lunch (just an apple and a couple pieces of watermelon with 2 units of insulin). For diner I had a few small burgers (half a pound of meat) some grilled chicken breast and a pile of grilled veggies. I also had a couple glasses of red wine.

I took only 5 units of insulin during the day (that’s at least 13 less than usual – not including my 20 units of night time Lantus) and my BS was perfectly controlled.

Day 2

Monday morning. Not fun. I had to go do the usual diabetes blood tests and therefore was fasting. (I check HbA1c, cholesterol, etc, every three months.) Before I could go to the lab I had to take the kids to their different summer activities before going to the lab so I didn’t drink my morning coffee until around 10 am. Serious caffeine withdrawal headache.

Once I had my caffeine, the rest of the day was great. My BS and was 100-125 all day long without any rapid insulin.

Here’s what I ate:

A large omelet with a salad for breakfast

A salad with leftover grilled chicken for lunch

I snacked on fruit (apple, a few cherries, apricot, watermelon and a couple prickly pears) .

Diner was another grilled meal – a pile of grilled veggies and root vegetables and a couple burgers and grilled chicken breasts. It’s a shame cavemen didn’t have gas Weber grills.

I took zero units of my rapid insulin (Apidra) the whole day (I did take my Lantus at night, though – 20 units).

Day 3

Tuesday. The morning did not go as I had planned. I woke up late and missed my window of opportunity to go running. That didn’t get me down since my waking BS was an incredible 81.

What I ate:

I ate an apple for breakfast (not the best but as I said my morning did not go as planned).

Lunch was a can of tuna with olive oil and lemon (did cavemen have canned tuna?) and a large green salad.

[I went running later in the day. I felt less energetic than usual – although lighter- and I actually ran 5 miles at a good pace. It was a very hot so I don’t really know if my lack of energy and feeling like I was about to vomit were connected to the diet or the heat.]

Again, a day without rapid insulin. I did find my BS was slightly high (160-170 after dinner, but it came down quickly, probably, thanks to my Lantus).

So after 3 days on the diet I can say that I seem to be losing weight and my BS is under better control than ever – no lows and no real highs. To be honest, I am shocked. It’s true that the diet is very difficult. And in some ways I feel deprived and a bit hungry, too. I enjoy eating fruit, which I don’t normally do, but I really miss eating cheese, yogurt and bread.

I do feel as if my energy level is a little lower than usual but that may be a result of not sleeping more than of eating less and not snacking. I also feel as if I will need to add some grain to my diet if I make this a way of life. Another problem is that the diet requires planning ahead. You really need to have the right food in the house and the time to prepare it. And finally, watching the World Cup games without beer – that just plain old sucks.

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